A wisteria-clad house in Cornwall that inspired one of Daphne du Maurier's most chilling characters
The wonderful old Penhallow Manor, on Bodmin Moor, plays a starring role in 'Jamaica Inn'.
Few novelists have as great a talent for creating believable fictional homes as Daphne du Maurier. The obvious example is Manderley, the unforgettable house in the classic Rebecca — a 1938 book which has been filmed several times, not least in Alfred Hitchcock's Oscar-winning classic.
Hitchcock located Manderley in Cornwall, but the county is never specified in the book — and that's perhaps unsurprising when you learn that Manderley was based on multiple real-life houses in different parts of Britain.
Before she wrote Rebecca, however, came du Maurier's earlier success, Jamaica Inn, a tale in which several of the locations were firmly rooted in reality. Jamaica Inn itself, for example, is a centuries-old staging post in the heart of Bodmin Moor, on the main road down to Penzance, that has stood here for countless generations. Another of the key locations is also taken from reality: the vicarage in the nearby village of Altarnun, home in the novel to the Reverend Francis Davey — and it's now up for sale through Inigo at £1.6 million.
In the book, Revd Davey gives the outward appearance of respectability, hiding the truth of his character. For du Maurier, a writer fascinated by the gap between appearance, reputation and reality, it's easy to see how such a fine home would have been an irresistible place to house a dark-hearted villain.
The vicarage has long been a private house, these days going by the name Penhallow Manor, and it's a truly exquisite home. It;s Georgian origins are difficult to pin down, because of a fire in 1841 after which the house was rebuilt.
The history of the dwelling goes back at least 1,500 years, however: a 6th-century granite cross in the garden shows that a settlement was here in early Christian times, if not before. Once again, du Maurier seems to have drawn from this: Jamaica Inn features themes of ancient religious belief in this mysterious moorland spot.
Penhallow Manor today is a huge home of almost 5,000 sq ft, with five bedrooms, all en-suite, in the main house, and three more in the coach house that's included in the sale.
There are period features throughout, but this is also a house that has been sensitively modernised — the pastel green Aga and the cabinetry in the kitchen show as much — but the overall feel has been carefully kept in period style.
If this clever curation and high-end feel reminds you of a country house hotel, it's for good reason: that's exactly what it was for some years, and indeed when it came up for sale via Country Life in 2002 at £585,000, it was offered as a going concern.
What will the future hold for Penhallow Manor? That will be up to the new owners, but with the beautiful rooms, lovely location, fascinating history and great potential — there's an old stone building that could, subject to relevant permissions, be converted — the possibilities are enormous.
Penhallow Manor is for sale through Inigo at £1.6 million — see more details.
